How to pronounce thwart
Say it like THWORT. Thwart is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce thwart. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- THWORT
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Thwart pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- THWORTSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "aw" in law.
American vs British pronunciation of thwart
- Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead.
British respelling: THWAWT.
What does thwart mean?
- Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
- Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.
- Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.
- To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.“Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.”
- A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.“The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.”
- A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (“breadth”) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.“A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart.”
- An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.
Where does thwart come from?
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvæ
Words that rhyme with thwart
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of thwart.
Questions about saying thwart
How do you pronounce thwart?
Say THWORT. The American pronunciation is /θwɔrt/. In British English it is /θwɔːt/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in thwart?
Thwart is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: THWORT.
Is thwart pronounced differently in British English?
Yes. Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead. The British form is /θwɔːt/ (THWAWT).